


WHAT DOES KUMAGORO SAY?

by TheBroken



Category: citrus - サブロウタ | citrus - Saburouta
Genre: Canon Lesbian Relationship, F/F, Jealous Friend, Jealous Lover, Jealousy, Love, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-27
Updated: 2020-11-27
Packaged: 2021-03-10 03:29:26
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,888
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27716819
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheBroken/pseuds/TheBroken
Summary: Mei is at home alone...again, waiting for Yuzu to return from a shopping trip with Harumi. Lonely, unhappy...and jealous. But is she the only one who's had enough of being the girl in the middle?
Relationships: Aihara Mei/Aihara Yuzu
Comments: 4
Kudos: 33





	WHAT DOES KUMAGORO SAY?

**Author's Note:**

  * For [MorningGlories](https://archiveofourown.org/users/MorningGlories/gifts).



> Have you noticed those frightening looks Yuzu gets when she's had enough? I wouldn't want her mad at me!  
> 

Mei had stepped thru the door of the apartment with a languid "Hello!" Before she remembered that no-one was there, and she was going to sit on the couch and hold the weight of the day with her own counsel. She changed out of her shoes, and into slippers, and shuffled slowly over to the dining room table. There he was... the big stuffed bear that had been her only comfort for years before she met Yuzu.

"Hello, Kumagoro!" she said, picking him up and carrying him in both arms to the couch, where she plopped down, absentmindedly squeezing him as she mulled over her dark mood. She appeared at that moment to be a much younger girl, as her lover had often noted at such times. She, in fact, still had the childhood habit of talking out loud to the large stuffed toy, which she had always done, and would have been embarrassed for anyone but Yuzu to know. She turned him to face her now, his big plush body filling her lap.

"What can I do, Kumagoro?" she asked plaintively. 'I need Yuzu so much at this moment, but she's having a day with her best friend, Taniguchi-San. And...I want her to have fun, there are things I'm simply worthless at, that she loves to do with Harumi. But I feel...I feel envious, and I hate it! I know in my heart that my lover is faithful to me! And she has told me over and over that Harumi has no romantic interest in her! " She trembled, as a wave of strong emotion went thru her; she couldn't completely identify it...but, it wasn't pleasant. "But...I see them together, I've seen them...they're all over each other, and I know they're both very physical people...something I'm still struggling with...Why do I have to be like this? Why can't I have a damned normal thought for once? It's crazy to feel this way, but I can't help it! I'm so jealous-I'm so jealous of their _TIME TOGETHER,_ and that's what galls me! That...and the ease, the casual way Harumi can interact with Yuzu, while I have to struggle so just to make _sense_ of it all sometimes!" And that was a part of being who and _what_ she was that probably hurt the beautiful Autistic girl the worse. She hugged the big bear, and a tear flowed slowly down one lovely, pale cheek. She brushed it away in anger and mortification.

 _"God',_ she thought _'I'm so damned pathetic!"_ But the jealousy seared her heart like a hot iron. She clutched the big stuffed bear tightly and whispered, _"And I'm so...angry!"_

At that same moment at their favorite mall across town, Yuzu said as Harumin sneezed, "Hah! That means someone is thinking about you, Honey!" She laughed as the busty girl wiped her nose. "It's probably _The Prez...she_ knows you're shopping with me!"

Yuzu frowned. _" Her name is "Mei", and she's my fiance'! And that's not funny, Taniguchi-"_

"Oh, it's _"Taniguchi-"_

"That's the _least_ funny thing you've said in a very stressful week! " Yuzu replied, and although she had a smart-alecky reply ready, she took one look at Yuzu's unaccustomed stormy expression, and wisely decided better of it.

"Okay! Hell, Yuzu, I'm just joking!" She made a show of rifling thru a rack of not terribly interesting booty shorts before turning to face the lovely blonde once more. "Truce?" she asked meekly.

Yuzu gave her a fist bump. "Truce. I'm sorry, Honey, ' she said, her face relaxing a little, 'but this little war you and Mei have had since day one...and you're just as bad as she is...well, It's just a bit too much, sometimes. "

"I'm sorry, Yuzu,' the tall girl said sincerely, 'I guess I'm just a smart-ass at heart, and like you, I _don't_ like authority figures! And you have to admit, The Pre...sorry... _Mei,_ is a real stickler sometimes, in school, or out!"

"You're right, and I don't like authority either. But it's her job. And most of the other students seem to be fine with it! In fact, some of them got mad when she became more flexible about the rules."

"If you're talking about that first-year _bitch_ that hit you, and girls like her, they've all got a ramrod up their asses! And you can tell them I said so! ' She looked uncertainly at her friend; perhaps she was saying too much. 'Whatever, Yuzu! I just wish your _fiance'_ would lighten up! She'd enjoy herself a lot more if she'd learn to live a little!" And she turned back to the clothing racks, seeing a thoughtful Yuzu in the mirror.

"There's a lot of truth in what you're saying, Harumin," she said simply and started piling thru the outfits once again. _"Maybe we'll see a breakthrough in Mei's therapy?"_ she thought hopefully.

Mei clicked the T.V. off in complete disgust. To have her nature program preempted by a marathon of that lousy reality show was an absolute crime. She had been hoping that some cute animal footage might soothe her tumultuous humor, but: _"Clearly Fate, or the idiots at programming, have conspired against me!"_ she thought bitterly. It was already late in the afternoon, and she hadn't even gotten a _text_ from her lover concerning dinner, or what they would have _._ And frankly, her stomach was starting to get a little cranky on her, she should have eaten a larger lunch.

"Should I call her? No-that would make me seem to pry, look bitchy, needy, or all three at once. But what to do? I wish I could sound casual, instead of so solemn all the time. Maybe I could just call and _giggle,_ be a _real giggle-girl_ , and drop a hint about dinner?"

 _"Oh, God! That's_ _so degrading!"_ She thought as she shuddered mentally.

Mei went to the kitchen cabinets in disgust, remembering as she opened them that there were some take-out yakisoba and pickles in the fridge. She took out the box of loose Genmaicha and headed to the fridge...yes, there it was-and brought her improvised light meal together. She found the last piece of fragrant green tea mochi for dessert in the cabinet. She sighed: she had always liked cold yakisoba, anyway, an old habit from when she lived alone in an apartment as a child after her father deserted her...

"Bad memory!' she thought, "Junk file!" The violet-eyed girl put some water on for some Genmaicha, figuring it was the next thing to soup, anyway, and began to delicately bring the noodles to her beautiful, small red lips with a pair of porcelain chopsticks. _"The only girl on Earth,'_ her Yuzu always bragged, _'who could_ look _sexy and gorgeous eating noodles!_ " She ate thoughtfully. It was decent enough.

 _"MY_ _YUZU!"_ Mei thought fiercely. _"MINE!"_ She looked at her big bear sadly and asked:

"What does Kumagoro say?"

But he held his peace.

She ate her noodles...and, _"I'm angry at Harumi!"_

She sipped the brothy, full-flavored Genmaicha, and, _"I'm SO damned jealous of Harumi!"_

She nibbled the choice, dainty green tea mochi, and, _"I envy Harumi!"_

She cleared away the small mess from her meal, rinsing her teacup, and, _"I dislike Harumi!"_

She brushed her teeth, and Mei felt like hitting something...or maybe... _someone._

_She sighed deeply, and sat back down, and hugged Kumagoro. This afternoon was going to go on forever._

"Yuzu,' Harumi said at last, 'you're just not feelin' it! Maybe we should call it a day, and you could just head back home? Besides, _Pre_ -uh,- _Mei_ is probably wondering when dinner is coming!" She smiled at the blonde, who slapped herself against the side of her head.

"Damn it! Dinner! I forgot! I need to stop by a market and pick a few things up!" She fumbled with the smartphone and speed-dialed Mei. After a few rings, it was picked up, and "This is Aihara Mei." came out in sonorous tones.

"Mei...you know it's me! I put my name to come up when I call on your phone, remember? I'm about to leave the mall and head over to a market. Is there something special I can bring back to fix dinner with?" She waited for a long beat, before:

"Just _anything,_ Yuzu. I already ate some _cold_ yakisoba. So just come back... _whenever!"_

 _"_ Mei! What the Hell is that supposed to mean? I'm fixing dinner tonight, and..." She was greeted with the call dropped tone. "Damn it!' she swore, under her breath.

"What's going on, Yuzucchi?" her friend wondered. Yuzu looked at her as if examining her expression minutely. _Was that the slightest trace of a smirk on that smarmy face?_

 _"Honey'_ Yuzu said, taking the taller girl by the hand, 'You're coming with _ME!"_ And she led the protesting Taniguchi out thru the large front doors of the mall.

Mei smirked as she hung up on her lover. "That for you, Yuzu!' she whispered painfully. What had she just done? She loved Yuzu so much, and she _just..."NO! SHE deserted ME today for Taniguchi! What would anyone feel in such circumstances? Left here to eat...cold yakisoba-and never mind that I like that_... _while she and her fa_ _r too clingy girlfriend have_ a _wonderful, happy day doing anything they want!" "_ What would you do, Kumagoro?" she asked the stuffed bear.

Kumagoro looked like he wanted to be helpful, but obviously, being a little tongue-tied, he didn't speak.

"Good old, faithful Kumagoro!' Mei said, picking him up and hugging him close. 'You're always there for me! Except for that awful time I left you sitting at the dining room table when I left Yuzu for that..." she paused. "And...that's _a MAJOR_ traumatic memory, Mei, and that was _really, really stupid!"_ She fell to the couch with Kumagoro and soon, his fur was wet, once again, as of old, with the Ebony-haired girl's tears.

"What sounds good for dinner?' Yuzu asked her bestie, as she searched through the fresh vegetable bins. 'They want _WHAT_ for peppers? "she said in shock.

She was taken aback. "How should I know? And why should I care? It's you and your _fiances'_ dinner?" She looked put out.

There it was again, the snarky way she said _"fiance'!"_

 _"Now,'_ Yuzu thought, 'What did our counselor say to me about this? Oh, yes!" and she cast her mind back to the month before when she had brought the jealousy problem between the two girls to her and Mei's couples' counselor.

" _It's not just a problem between them, Yuzu! It's your problem, even more so. And I can't tell you to immediately confront them today, you shouldn't until you're prepared for it to get even more unpleasant, possibly, at least in the short term...but, for your happiness, and theirs, you will someday, probably soon, have to lay this before them until they acknowledge it, and then, begin to deal with the difficulty. Only then will things go as smoothly as you want...because, neither of these people, of course, are going anywhere. It's not a matter of them disliking each other so much as it is...simple jealousy, that has gone on too long until it's become entrenched in their attitudes to each other as their default setting. And, they are not likely to end it without help. It's in your hands, sadly, to bring it to that successful conclusion."_

Yuzu clenched her jaw. _"She's right!'_ she thought, _'It's gone on long enough! No more me-in-the-middle!"_ She turned to face her friend. "Because,' she said, her voice becoming thin, and a little scary, _'YOU'RE_ coming home and having dinner with us...and no arguments, Harumi!" She shot the tall girl a look that nearly chilled her blood. What in God's name was the crazed-looking blonde planning now? Whatever it was, she was dead serious, and it wouldn't pay to deny her whim.

"Uh...Um...sure, Yuzucchi! I'm always glad to be...uh...accommodating!" she managed and pointed out such a _lovely_ sale the market had on scallions...

Mei sat on the couch zoned out watching a ghastly anime', just anything really to stop the wheels from spinning with depressing memories. She had one arm around Kumagoro, and the other hand on her smartphone, Yuzu's number brought up but refusing to dial it and beg forgiveness. She looked at the picture of the gorgeous green-eyed girl, sighed, looked away. Sighed, looked back. "This is no good!' she said to Kumagoro, who remained stoically silent. 'I need her so badly, but...I'm still angry at her...and at Taniguchi! This is going to drive me crazy! And...I'm getting hungry again! Why does being angry make me hungry?"

Perhaps The big bear might have provided a clue for her, but just at that moment...

There was the crunch of a key turning the lock on the front door. It swung open, and Yuzu stepped thru, carrying bags full of groceries in one hand and leading a timid, busty auburn-haired girl with the other.

Yuzu and her timorous bestie kicked their shoes off and set the bags down before walking in. Not surprisingly to Yuzu, she found Mei half asleep, cuddled up rather cutely with Kumagoro on the couch. Mei sat up in embarrassment at seeing Harumin looking at her with a bewildered look on her _"INSIPID FACE!"_ Mei thought. "Yuzu! W-what..." she began.

And at that moment, Harumi thought: _Mei cuddles with stuffed toys...Almost like...a little girl! She must be so insecure! "_ And she couldn't help but feel a twinge of sympathy for her.

The put-upon blonde came over to sit beside her. "Honey...I'm home!' she said sarcastically. 'Take a seat!" she bade her friend. The busty girl sat down gingerly in a chair, while Mei stared at her as though she were a lab slide with a specimen of a loathsome disease. The two glanced away sullenly from each other, and Yuzu sighed. It was showdown time, and she was getting tired of confrontations. But, as everyone agreed, once she took a purpose up, she would see it through. She wouldn't back down. And the two feuding girls knew they were in for it.

"So,' Yuzu began, 'here we all are! And isn't this so _chummy!_ My precious forever love and my best friend staring at each other like murder for THE TEN THOUSANDTH _TIME! "_ Her voice rose sharply in the last words, causing the other two girls to flinch back. 'You'd think, after all this time- since we were _frigging first-years,_ in fact,- you two would have learned to be more civil to each other, if not exactly besties! But here I am today, and _YOU, Mei,_ my _Goddamn_ fiance'...

"Yuzu!" Mei started, unaccustomed to the cursing, a sure sign Yuzu was on the edge, as she well knew.

 _"SHUT UP, MEI!_ You'll get a chance to defend your indefensible behavior later if you want! Now...and _YOU,_ Mei, answer my call whining about cold yakisoba, which you _love,_ and telling me to come in _"whenever."_ And this is far from the first time I've noticed this kind of nonsense when I'm out shopping with Harumi! You're constantly using your cunning little mind games to get back at me for the grievous wounds my afternoons out seem to inflict on your _TENDER BUTT-HOLE!_ And no, I didn't bring chips for your pity-party!" Mei was clutching Kumagoro in front of her, as if in protection. Yuzu looked at the frightened auburn-haired girl across from them, who barely looked up, and tried to speak.

"Yuzu, I should be go-"

 _"SHUT UP, HARUMI!_ You're staying _RIGHT HERE_ until we three hash out you _AND_ Mei's friggin' jealousy trips you're both on!" Yuzu shot daggers with her eyes at them both, but Harumi tried to argue.

"I am not jealous of Prez!" she said huffily.

Yuzu stood and walked over before her. The smaller blonde looked absolutely menacing at that moment. She called the larger girls bluff, who wilted under her glare. "That's _CRAP,_ and you know it, honey! And by the way, her name is _MEI, NOT PREZ!_ I already _told you!_ How would you like it if Mei called you _"JUGGS?"_

The buxom girls' jaw dropped. _  
_

 _"YEAH!_ So, now that we have _that settled._..Harumi, all day today, you've been snarking, in subtle ways, about Mei every time her name came up. It's you who should have green eyes, because you're clearly jealous of my relationship, and the person I'm having it with. An idiot could see that...and I'm not the dumb blonde people seem to think I am! It's like that _every time_ I speak to you of my Mei, who is my forever love, and, listen, I'm going to be with her for the rest of our lives! I went thru _HELL_ for this lady, and despite her infantile actions toward _OUR_ relationship, she is _SO WORTH_ everything I had to do to get her! Despite her childish jealousy, she is the most amazing, loving, and beautiful girl _ON EARTH!_ In fact, If you weren't here right now Harumi, we'd fight for a minute, make up, and we'd be in that bedroom of ours...well...um...because we are so totally in love that we can't keep our friggin' hands off each other!"

Mei looked away, but with a pleased, if embarrassed look on her proudly blushing face. Harumi was flabbergasted!

"Harumi...honey... 'Yuzu implored, 'are you going to still be snarking at her when you're 100 years old, for God's sake! I love her more than my own life." Her friend looked into her lap, tears of shame and embarrassment beginning to gather in her eyes. Yuzu knelt, and embraced her dear friend, who finally unblushingly hugged her back with a sob.

Y-Y-Yuzu-" she tried.

 _"Shush,_ Honey, we'll get back in a minute, okay?" The other nodded, staring at her lap again.

"Now, _MEI_ ,' Yuzu began, startling the beautiful Aspie. 'Mei, I _love_ you. I _lust_ only for _you._ I'm a demi-sexual, just like you are. It's been _only you_ in my heart since you _nailed me_ with that first kiss, but you can be such an _ASSHOLE_ sometimes! Getting angry over my spending an afternoon with my bestie!' Mei flinched again. 'Since my first day at school, back in the days when you treated me like a giant blonde virus, Harumin, my best friend forever, the only one in class to befriend me, out of a school full of, frankly, _stuck-up society bitches who didn't like a little green-eyed hafu,_ has stood by me thru thick and thin, put up with my endless whining, pretended she didn't know I had the hots for my stepsister, listened for the millionth retelling while I sniveled about my romantic woes., made me laugh...there's no end to what she means to me...and still came up with that gorgeous smile, and friendly shoulder! Her support has helped me become happy, _HER_ support, Mei, when she called her sister and got Matsuri and me the motorcycle rides on the eve of you _damned nearly_ signing the marriage papers, helped save you and me, from a ghastly future! Mei, you _OWE_ her! I _OWE_ her! I want to have her in my life always!" The tall girl blushed, and silently mouthed, _"Me too!"_ as Yuzu smiled at her.

"There's no reason to be jealous of her, Mei. She and I are friends. Your jealousy over our time together is unfounded, and you know it! She's just very, unashamedly, unabashedly physical, and, well,' she leaned down and pulled Mei into a kiss that left her blushing, _'you KNOW I am, Baby!_ When you see us that way, we're just being open, emotional, caring...we're just being _us!"_ She looked from one to the other of them, as the other two girls hung on her every word.

"Do you think I'm enjoying this? Do you realize how _painful_ confrontation is for me? _It eats me up alive!_ I can't stand making people feel bad! But this _has to stop!_ "

"I love you both, in different ways. I love you both with all my heart and soul. I love you so deeply, it's a beautiful ache in my insides! " And finally, Yuzu's own heartfelt tears began to flow, causing the two people she loved best to weep openly with her. 'And that is why, Mei, that is why, Harumi, when you two do this terrible thing you do, when you have this war of jealousy over my affections, over my love, and who gets to spend time with me, I'm caught in the middle." And she reached out, and grasped a hand from each girl, drawing them up from their seats.

'And...and...' she whispered, ' It-it _kills_ me! It hurts me so bad because I love you both so much. I can forgive your faults, and I hope you can forgive the many I possess, but I can't take this anymore! You can _both_ get to love me! You can _both_ get to have me in your life, in your own ways that are all yours, and no-one else's. I cherish you! I need you! I love you so, I can't find enough words! Please don't be jealous and fight, anymore. Please don't be hurtful to one another.'

"And please, stop putting me between you and hurting me. Because...that's just what you've been doing. For _years,_ now, you've put me between you as a buffer for your jealousy and anger, _and you've unknowingly been emotionally beating me up!_ Please stop hurting _US_ because,' She turned to Mei "I love you,' then turned to Harumi, "And, I love you." She was finished, and a little drained from the effort. "Will this finally get thru to them?" she wondered.

Yuzu looked at the two girls, their eyes filled with remorseful tears, and drew them into a tender, loving group hug that lasted a long moment.

"I'm so ashamed, Y-Yuzu!" Mei offered painfully. 'Please forgive me and my damned ugliness." Yuzu caressed the wet cheek gently, and did the same for her friend, as Harumi added, "I've been a selfish bitch. I'm totally sorry." and she hung her head.

"Girls,' Yuzu said at last,' I _already_ forgave you, because... _that's just how I am! I can't hold hurtful feelings-and-I won't!_ This,' she continued, holding their hands together with hers, 'has _...all been for you two._ Now, I'm going into the kitchen to start fixing a lovely dinner for the three of us!" Yuzu laughed and gave Mei a sloppy kiss. "And you guys can make up together, in your own special ways, in private after dinner, or in here while I cook! But, if you're not ready for _that_... if anyone wants to help, come and join me! It's a big kitchen!" She gazed brightly at her favorite people in the world, as the two eyed each other as fellow human beings instead of rivals, for a change, and left them in the living room.

Mei nodded to the tall girl. "Af-after you, Tanigu-Um, Harumi?" she said softly, walking into the dining room and setting a rather pleased looking Kumagoro at his accustomed spot at the table.

**Author's Note:**

> I've always sort of imagined that Yuzu might one day get tired of the ongoing "Cold War" between Mei and Harumin.


End file.
